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Getting More out of your Camera: High-Key Photography

Monday, 1 April 2013

Spending Easter weekend in the countryside was a good
opportunity to get stuck into my next project. To explore the high-key approach I
needed to be able to get outside and find well-lit subjects with little shadow.
The typical British weather obliged by providing an overcast sky.

I chose pale toned subjects with
an almost dreamy colouring. Having small areas of darkness in a high-key
picture is helpful as they emphasise the lighter qualities of your shot.

I used bracketing (see Project 1) to achieve the results I wanted, selecting overexposed shots with a lighter, brighter quality. I also discovered the HDR Backlit
Control function on my camera, which takes 3 consecutive shots and then
merges them together to achieve an HDR effect.

High-key photography suits
white-based subjects where you want to draw attention to certain key details of
your shot and create a dreamy atmosphere. It would also be good for portraits.